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Sunday, 29 November 2020

Sunday Rest: wigwag. Word Not To Use Today.

 To wigwag means to move backwards and forwards.

Yes, that is just the same meaning as the word wag.

The word wigwag, however, is especially for people who are pretending to have a sense of humour.

Sunday Rest: wigwag. This word dates back to the 1500s. The wig bit is probably short for wiggle (so the whole word is tautologous, as well as wince-making). The Middle Dutch form of wiggle was wiggelen

Wag comes from the Old English waglan, to shake. Rather sweetly, vagga is the Old Norse for cradle.

photo by M Todorovic



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